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Reviews... |
| "The Fairy and the Chupacabra is that rare book that
delights parents and children alike. It is both earth-bound and mystical, filled with magical
creatures and vibrant, fully realized characters in a place few of us ever knew was so
exotic--West Texas." |
| – Lisa
Selin Davis, author of Belly, travel writer New York
Times |
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| "Pity the poor Chupacabra, the bane of goats and the terror of dark nights.
Now the vicious creation that stalks Latin lands is a main character in a bilingual children's book. Oh, how
the mighty have fallen.
Mangum and Spires use English and Spanish to tell the story, which includes...the Chupacabra,
an unconfirmed creature blamed for mysterious livestock deaths, and the Marfa lights, unexplained spheres of
light observed around Marfa, in West Texas..." |
| –
A.M. Costa Rica |
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"Did you know that those vampires of the horned Capricorn world, the chupacabras (literally,
"goatsuckers") are "the size of a full-grown man, but they are covered with the green skin of
a lizard ... and orange stripes ... and, of course, those primarily purple polka dots." They also have
wings and tiny teeth "except for the fearsome fangs.
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"But Chuy is not your average terrifying chupacabra. In The Fairy and the Chupacabra, a new comic
adventure tale set in the Glass Mountains near Marathon by award-winning Texas novelist James Mangum, Chuy is
"one silly young chupacabra ... un chupito tonto!" In fact, when he encounters fairy prince Javi, all
he really wants is a bedtime story, a place for the parentless prowler of the pasture to fit in. Here's an
enchanting take on the chupacabra myth that is so familiar to generations of Hispanics in the Southwest, brought
to life by Mangum's captivating (but muy tonto!) illustrations. Lots of Spanish terms throughout, with a glossary
at the end."
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– Lisa Brothers Gutierrez,
San
Antonio Express-News |
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"Besides La Llorona, the most charismatic figure in southwestern folklore has got to be the
Chupacabra,
whose name means "goat sucker".... In their picture book The Fairy and the Chupacabra...Mangum and Spires
have portrayed the Chupacabra as a winged creature with green, purple-polka-dotted skin and pointy teeth
who is 'the most misunderstood of creatures.'
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"Set in West Texas, the book features Mangum's charming, colorful illustrations of regional flora,
landscape, and fauna, such as the javelinas that Javier likes to ride, and big-eyed pronghorns, or
'fluffy bottoms.' The Fairy and the Chupacabra is sprinkled with Spanish throughout, words that are easy
to understand from the context and that are also defined in a glossary in back.
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"The story concludes in a big party, with the glowing fairies dancing and singing songs about
Chupacabras, and their luminance produces the 'Marfa lights.'...'ghost lights' on Mitchell Flat east of Marfa,
Texas. Thus, the book serves to explain to little ones and render benign two mysterious regional phenomena—the Marfa lights and the legend of the Chupacabra."
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– Jenny Shank,
New West |
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"Children’s books always baffle me. They’re intended to be read to small children at an age when their
imaginations run wild and the beasts under the bed and in the closet are more frightening and real than anything
that can actually harm them. So why is it that writers of children’s books always populate their works with the
most bizarre and scary creatures known to man?
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"At least in The Fairy and the Chupacabra and Those Marfa Lights there is no big bad wolf waiting to eat
the kids in some remote village or a headless horseman waiting in the woods to exact revenge on some poor school
teacher.
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"No, in this book (the first in a series) there really is no villain or hero. Instead, authors James
Mangum and Sidney Spires tell the tale of a fairy named Javier who decides to leave his fairy clan and visit
a nearby Texas town. The fairies are amazed by humans. Watching them during their daily lives is one of their
favorite pastimes.
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"Along the way Javi bumps into a chupacabra, not the fabled goat killer of lore, but a kind creature with large fangs and a body covered in purple polka dots and orange stripes. The two befriend one another and we see that distinctly different creatures with completely different lifestyles and purposes can get along just fine.
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"The book is creatively illustrated by Mangum to look more like traditional Mexican folk art using lots of bright colors and broad lines. But perhaps the best feature of the book is the Spanish to English glossary that the authors have included to help teach the meanings of the Spanish words and phrases found throughout the story.
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"As a fairytale (quite literally) The Fairy and the Chupacabra and Those Marfa Lights is a pleasant departure from castles, dragons, and witches and the subject matter is interesting enough to keep the attention of little kids, even if it is just for the pictures."
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–
Charlie Owen, Vail Daily; also appeared in Daily
Summit |
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About the Authors... |
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Mangum is an award winning Texas novelist and folk artist. He and his wife Sidney Spires
live in a tiny yellow house on a hill overlooking magical, mystical Marathon, Texas. Their
West Texas neighbors include fairies, chupacabras, dragons, gnomos, javelinas, pronghorns,
búhos and other creatures - ambos verdaderas e imaginarias.
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